River salmon season set to open in California’s Central Valley on July 16 and if you’re feeling a little unsure about your plug fishing techniques when using lures like Kwikfish and FlatFish, check out my eBook.

For only $2.99, you’ll learn how to back-bounce, flat-line and hover plugs the right way. There are also detailed gear rigging photos and diagrams – and lots of info on how to pick the right plug size, model and color for each situation.

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Our latest Ask JD question comes from Rob Y. who’s looking to make some sense out of scents when it comes to fall salmon fishing with plugs. Rob writes:

JD, I have a quick question about fishing with Kwikfish for salmon. I heard or read somewhere that instead of doing a sardine wrap you can put some self-stick Velcro on the bottom of the plug and then smother it in gel sent. How well does that work? And, do you think a sardine wrap really works since the fish are on the move anyway? By the way, loved your steelhead book!

Thanks, Rob

Hey Rob! There have been several methods devised over the years to avoid having to wrap plugs with sardine or herring fillets…some guys have done the Velcro thing, while others have glued sponges or stuck scent pads to the bottoms of their plugs and then doused everything in some sort of scent. Then there was Pro Cure’s Bait Butter, which was a scent concoction with a peanut butter consistency that you could just lather your lure in. All of the above worked, but…Click here to read more…

We’re not all palm trees, Baywatch and Hollywood down in here in California…we’ve also got some monster king salmon like this 51-pound beast caught on the Smith River Monday, Oct. 25 by Ken Carter on a sardine-wrapped K16 Kwikfish. Carter and Gil Sissons had an epic day while fishing with guide John Klar (they ended up 11 for 12 on sea lice chromers) and fishing looks like it should be good for quite a while.

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The line went limp and that was that. The General was gone. I’m sad to report that I recently lost one of my super A-List All Star Kwikfish, one known as “The General,” who’d been with me from back in the Alaskan guiding days. The General was a toothy K15 Kwikfish in the Dragonfly pattern…and one of those rare few that you put in the water and just know it’s going to get bit. Well, get bit he did and then {Presto} he was lost. We must have had a nick in the line somewhere but it popped with very little pressure. Farewell General and thanks for the memories!

I named the plug after an ol WWII veteran that I fished in Alaska, Major General Erbon Wise who had stormed the beach in Normandy on D-Day. Check out his story HERE.